United States presidential election, 2016
|- | colspan="4" | |- | colspan="5" | |- | colspan="4" style="text-align: center" |Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states/districts won by Meyer/James. Red denotes those won by O'Brien/Montez. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state. | colspan="4" | |- | |} The United States presidential election of 2016 ' was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The election ended in an electoral tie, as incumbent President Selina Meyer and running mate Senator Tom James of Connecticut tied with Senator Bill O'Brien of Arizona and his running mate Senator Laura Montez of New Mexico. The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses took place between January and June 2016, staggered among the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. This nominating process was also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who in turn elected their party's presidential nominee. Arizona Senator Bill O'Brien beat Republican competitors for the nomination, while Incumbent President Selina Meyer beat Governor Danny Chung and baseball manager Joe Thornhill for the Democratic nomination. Before the election, polls had described it as "the closest in living memory". By early morning on November 9, all the networks could project that the final result was a 269-269 tie between Meyer and O'Brien, with Meyer projected to win the popular vote. In Nevada, a recount was called by the Meyer team, but all it accomplished was widening O'Brien's lead, giving him the edge in the national popular vote. In the constitutionally required House presidential vote on January 3, neither Meyer nor O'Brien received a majority of the votes, so the vote went to the U.S. Senate to determine who will be President between the two VP selections. To break the tie in the Senate, Vice President Andrew Doyle selected Laura Montez. She was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. Technically, Laura Montez is acting President of the United States until the House of Representatives vote again. However, House Speaker Jim Marwood announced that he will not be scheduling another vote, meaning that Montez's tenure as President will be permanent until January 20, 2021 or until another vote is scheduled. Background In 2012, Stuart Hughes won the presidency, with running mate Selina Meyer. The two went on to become a very low-rated President and Vice President, respectively. In the midterms, the Republican Party gained an overwhelming control of the House and the Senate. Shortly after the Midterms, Hughes favorability dropped precipitously after the Uzbek Hostage Crisis and the 2015 government shutdown. He announced he would not seek re-election in 2015, and resigned in January 2016 to take care of his ill wife. Vice President Selina Meyer was inaugurated. Democratic Party ''Main article: Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 Nominees Other major candidates * Danny Chung, Governor of Minnesota 2011 - 2019 * Joe Thornhill, former Major League Baseball Manager * George Maddox, Secretary of Defense 2013 - 2015 * Owen Pierce, U.S. Representative from Nevada 2011 - present Primaries With Hughes' unpopular, even in their own party, Danny Chung was the first to announce that he was starting an exploratory committee to see if there would be a chance to run for President, even though Hughes hadn't officially announced he was dropping out. In mid-2015, George Maddox announced his resignation as Secretary of Defense, prompting Hughes to announce he's not seeking re-election. On October 18, 2015, Vice President Selina Meyer announced her candidacy. That November, Joe Thornhill, an ex-baseball manager with no political experience, announced his candidacy. At the primary debate, Thornhill came in first place, followed by Meyer, Chung, Pierce, and Maddox. In January 2016, Joe Thornhill won the Iowa Caucus. Shortly before the New Hampshire primary, President Hughes announced he was resigning, and Vice President Selina Meyer was sworn in as President, while still seeking the party nomination. Despite the amount of time Meyer put in New Hampshire, Danny Chung wins the New Hampshire primary, with Thornhill second, and Meyer third. After dropping out, Maddox and Pierce both endorse Chung. In Joint Session, it is revealed that Thornhill is still in the race, as well as Chung. According to the Veep intro in season four, Selina does poorly with the primaries, but somehow manages to secure the party nomination. Convention At the Party Convention, Doyle (Meyer's VP) announced he would not be Vice President after Inauguration Day due to prostate problems. Meyer, considering Chung and Maddox for her ticket, eventually chooses Connecticut Senator Tom James for her running mate. Republican Party Main article: Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016 Nominees Primaries While little is known or seen of the Republican 2016 primaries, O'Brien was very critical of President Meyer, especially her Families First Bill and her Middle East peace tour. Convention Before the 2016 Republican National Convention, Bill O'Brien announced he would select New Mexico Senator Laura Montez as his running mate. General Election Campaign Within a week of the Convention, both the Meyer/James and the O'Brien/Montez campaigns were out on the trail. The Meyer campaign began campaigning in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Maine. The O'Brien campaign began in Florida. Both campaigns were affected by the Hurricane which was supposed to hit North Carolina (which the Governor announced a state of emergency), but veered south and hit Florida. Meyer was unable to get to Florida because she grounded flights in North Carolina, where she was at. O'Brien, in Florida, pulled a Teddy Bear out of the wreckage of a destroyed home. In September 2016, after a shooting in Pittsburgh, Tom James created a controversy by saying that the shooter was a victim also. He apologized later that day. In October 2016, the Mommy Meyer bill was killed in the House. Due to rumors that President Meyer had something to do with this, Congressman Moyes called a Congressional hearing into this. It was later revealed that the Meyer campaign hacked the medical records of dead children's families to send a campaign mailer, in addition to the data breach revealed earlier in March in which the campaign hacked the social security records of a little girl. Bill Ericsson was scapegoated and arrested on November 9. Debates * In September 2016, the first Presidential Debate between President Selina Meyer and Senator Bill O'Brien took place. According to Wendy Keegan, Selina won the first debate (mentioned in Mommy Meyer). * In October 2016, the Vice Presidential Debate between Senator Tom James and Senator Laura Montez took place. (mentioned in B/ill) Results & Aftermath On the night of the election, at first, O'Brien had a large lead over Meyer. The first projections of the night gave O'Brien an electoral vote lead of 33-10. By 10:00 PM ET, CNN has O'Brien up 177-61, after winning Wisconsin and Minnesota, which were thought to go to Meyer. After projecting Pennsylvania, putting O'Brien at 267-207, Meyer almost calls O'Brien to concede, but around 12:06 AM ET, CNN says Pennsylvania was the incorrect call and is given to Meyer, who later wins Florida and Colorado. After winning Virginia, CNN officially reported that the Election was tied. Nevada Recount The day after the Election, CNN reports that the margin of victory in which O'Brien won Nevada was less than one percent, which constitutes a recount. If Meyer wins the recount, she wins the presidency. A recount was green-lit on November 11. The Meyer team learns that there are missing ballots in Nevada and asks to extend the deadline. However, to their dismay, they learn that the missing ballots were military absentee ballots, most of which were votes in favour of O'Brien. On November 20, it was official that O'Brien had won Nevada, and in doing so, Meyer has lost the national popular vote. 2017 Contingent election The '''United States contingent election of 2017 '''was held from January 3 - 5, 2017 because of the electoral gridlock following the 2016 presidential election. The presidential election was thrown into a contingent election in the U.S. House of Representatives, following the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. The House vote was held on January 3, and neither presidential candidate received a majority of the vote. On January 5, the vote went on to the Senate, where Laura Montez was elected to become President. U.S. House of Representatives Vote The House of Representatives presidential vote was held on January 3, 2017, to decide on who would be President between Democratic candidate Selina Meyer and Republican candidate Bill O'Brien. Notably, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Vermont abstained from the vote. Neither O'Brien nor Meyer received a majority of the vote, meaning that the vote would go to the Senate. House of Representatives roll call Senate vote The Senate Vice Presidential vote was held on January 5, 2017 between Meyer running mate Senator Tom James and O'Brien running mate Senator Laura Montez. The Senate vote ended in a 50-50 tie. The tie was broken by Senate President and Vice President Andrew Doyle, who broke party lines by voting for Laura Montez. Since the presidency was vacant, Vice President-elect Montez ascended to the presidency. Aftermath After the vote in the Senate, House Speaker Jim Marwood announced that the US House of Representatives would not vote again on President. On January 20, 2017, Laura Montez was inaugurated. Seconds into her presidency, CNN reported that Tibet had been freed, with all the credit going to Montez, and not Meyer, who had done all the work to have it happen. Technically, Montez is only serving as President until the House of Representatives vote on President again. These events, specifically the House deadlock and Montez's ascension, are not consistent with the Constitution, which only allows the VP-elect to serve temporarily as president until the House settles on a final winner. This implies the House would have to keep voting until someone emerges with a majority -- whether or not the Speaker feels like holding another vote. House Elections |- | colspan="4" | |- | colspan="4" | |} The '''2016 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2016. Elections were held for all 435 seats of the House of Representatives, representing the 50 states. Elections were also held for Senators elected in 2010. The winners of this election served in the 115th United States Congress, and were sworn in on January 2, 2017. Even though the presidential popular vote was incredibly close, the Republican Party was able to retain majority of the U.S. House of Representatives, as Jim Marwood was confirmed as House Speaker again. On January 3, 2017, the newly sworn-in representatives voted on who would become President. However, neither Meyer nor O'Brien received a majority of votes, so the vote went to the Senate. New Hampshire Special Election Main article: New Hampshire Special Election In New Hampshire's 2nd district, Congressman Harry Sherman won the election on November 8. However, on November 24, Sherman died due to an outbreak of salmonella on Thanksgiving. An election to replace Sherman was set to be December 21. On his deathbed, he asked his wife Judy Sherman to continue his legacy. The Democratic Party nominated Meyer presidential liaison Jonah Ryan to fight Sherman for the seat. Due to the upcoming vote in the US House to determine the Presidency on January 3, the race was very important. Despite many campaign gaffes and blunders, Ryan was able to hit his stride by attacking President Meyer, and voicing many peoples anger with the Government. On December 20, the NRA officially endorsed Ryan for Congress. On December 21, Ryan beat Sherman in the election. He was sworn in on January 2. In the vote in Congress, Ryan voted for Meyer. Elected Candidates * Colorado: [[Penny Nickerson|'Penny Nickerson']] * Delaware: [[Tamara Lipton|'Tamara Lipton']] * Michigan: [[Paul Graves|'Paul Graves']]' (Republican)' * New Hampshire 1st: [[William Whitney|'William Whitney']] * New Hampshire 2nd: [[Jonah Ryan|'Jonah Ryan']]' (Democratic)' * Ohio: [[Roger Furlong|'Roger Furlong']]' (Democratic)' * Pennsylvania: [[Helen Hayes|'Helen Hayes']] * Wisconsin 1st: [[Bill Jaeger|'Bill Jaeger']] See also * Selina Meyer presidential campaign, 2016 * Bill O'Brien presidential campaign, 2016 * Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 * Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016 * 2016 Democratic National Convention * 2016 Republican National Convention Category:Government Category:2016 Campaign Category:Elections